Contents tagged with Britain

  • British foreign secretary refuses to shake hands with Russian ambassador after Skripal poisoning

    During his recent meeting with Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson refused to shake hands with him in compliance with the "British protocol," RIA Novosti reports.

    "There is certain British protocol for the cases when an ambassador is summoned to the Foreign Office. He [Johnson] sure showed in every way his concern about the Russian policy. He had to tell me unpleasant things and thus believed that the ambassador did not …

  • Germany: Assassination attempt on Skripal should be investigated in UN

    The former German Foreign Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, who had just left his post, proposed for an investigation into the circumstances of the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal, to be conducted by an international group of experts, as he indicated on Thursday, March 15th, at an official ceremony of the German-Russian Forum, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the creation of this non-governmental organization.

    According to the former Foreign Minister of Germany, international experts …

  • NATO Secretary-General puts poisoning of ex-spy in Britain on par with Russian aggression in Ukraine

    North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has sharply condemned the use of nerve gas in the United Kingdom against former GRU employee Sergei Skripal and his daughter, reports Voice of America.

    Speaking at the launch of NATO’s Annual Report for 2017, Stoltenberg called the poisoning of Skripal "the first offensive use of a nerve agent on Alliance territory since NATO’s foundation."

    He described the attack as part of "a reckless pattern of Russian behavior …

  • Russia: Britain could have obtained Novichok poison that was used on Skripal from the US

    Alexei Chepa, Deputy State Duma Committee for International Affairs, said that Britain could have received the toxic substance Novichok, which was used to poison the former spy Skripal and his daughter, from the United States, reported the Russian agency Interfax.

    “In the early 90s, specialized American companies utilized a company in Nukus (Uzbekistan), where this chemical weapon was developed (Novichok - Ed.). The Americans had access not only to the technology, but also had access to the …

  • After Skripal's poisoning Merkel urges the West not to break off contacts with Russia

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was sworn in for her fourth term, supported negotiations with Russia, despite the Skripal case.

    "We take the findings of the British government very seriously (regarding the poisoning of Sergei Skripal by the nerve agent, Novichok, developed by the Russian Federation - Ed.). We will still be presenting a common European stance on this issue. However, I think we cannot break off all contacts at this time," the politician said.

    According to Merkel, it is …

  • Kremlin receives the list of diplomats to be expelled from Britain

    The list of diplomats who must leave the UK has been sent to Russia, as stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, TASS reports.

    “These Russian diplomats that are there are representatives of the military attaché. These people must leave the territory of Great Britain within seven days,” Zakharova said.

    Earlier on March 14, the head of the British government, Theresa May, announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from Great Britain, saying …

  • Putin’s critic found dead in London

    Nikolai Glushkov, a Russian businessman, former deputy director of Aeroflot, and a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government was found dead in his London home on March 12. London police have classified his death as unexplained.

    Although his name is not mentioned in the police department’s statement, the BBC confirms that he is indeed the person discovered dead. Glushkov was a former associate of Boris Berezovsky, another steadfast critic of Putin who had also died in …

  • Russia threatens to block all British media

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova declared on Russia 1 TV on Tuesday, March 13 that that British media will never operate again in Russian territory if the UK shuts down Russian television channel Russia Today. "Not a single British media outlet will work in our country if they close Russia Today," she said.

    According to the media, Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) also promised to respond in kind against …

  • Russia calls British accusations of Skripal poisoning a 'circus show'

    The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has called a statement by British Prime Minister Theresa May regarding Moscow's possible involvement in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal a "circus show in the British parliament."  

    According to Zakharova, this is yet another information and political campaign “based on provocation.”

    "Before composing new fairy tales, let someone in the Kingdom tell what the outcome [was] of previous cases of Litvinenko, Berezovsky …

  • Russia concerned that UK will not share information about poisoning case of former intelligence agent Skripal

    The Russian embassy in London fears that an investigation into the poisoning of the British spy Sergei Skripal by a nerve agent will be classified by the Great Britain.

    "[The] Investigation of [the] Sergei Skripal case follows the Litvinenko script: most info to be classified, Russia to get no access to investigation files and no opportunity to assess its credibility," the diplomatic mission said on Twitter.

    Former GRU (Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate) colonel Sergei Skripal, who had …